Issue Fifteen now online!

Work Sucks If there’s any one thing that we can all agree on – regardless of gender, religion, politics, or sports team affiliation – it’s that having to work for a living is complete bullshit. Whether it’s wasting away in a cubicle or hunting Nazi zombies in the Arctic Ocean, having to do The Man’s bidding just to collect a paycheck is not how we’d choose to live our lives if left to our own devices.

It is with that sentiment in mind that we present to you, through no calculated efforts of our own, Issue Fifteen of Jersey Devil Press.

We begin with “The Carpenter,” by Aaron DiMunno, a heart-breaking story about a boy, his father, and the project he spends all his time on. Then it’s “You Can Take the Boy Out of Jersey,” by Isaac James Baker, a personal and cautionary tale about what happens when parents’ jobs move a Jersey boy to the strange, terrible land of Chicago. Next is Jack Frey’s “Gooseflesh,” the aforementioned zombie-hunting story, and Cliff Young’s post-apocalyptic, bosses-are-always-kinda-tools-even-if-society-has-collapsed epic “Nimrod!” And then it’s not one but two tales of demon-infested workplaces with “Devil in the Details,” by Nicholas Rasche, and “One-Fourth,” by Walter Campbell.

So there you go. Six stories, all making sitting on your ass and eating Cheetos a more compelling option than a life of hard work and toil. Because, let’s face it, if it wasn’t for the whole “starving to death” part, we’d all rather be unemployed.

You can find the online version of the issue here, or download the .pdf here.

Issue Fourteen Now Online

In our ongoing efforts to accidentally come up with themes at the most inappropriate times, we are proud to present Issue Fourteen of Jersey Devil Press, dedicated to that most wonderful and terrible of all emotions: Love.

That’s right.  In the dead of autumn, just in time for Halloween, we’ve got a bunch of stories about the most pink and frilly of feelings.  Or is it?  After reading these five stories, I’m not so sure.

The authors here get love down in all its messy glory: the selflessness and the selfishness; the pain, the passion, the effort and the ease; the wonder and, especially, the unexpectedness of it all.

The first stop on this textual Tunnel of Love is Hilary Gan’s remarkable debut story, “The Pragmatist,” followed by “The Ballad of Done Me Wrong and Maybegirl,” by the enigmatic Sandra Bazzarelli.  Next is the moving “The Rodeo Clown” by the prolific Annam Manthiram, then Michael Frissore’s “The Seven Stages of Sorrow,” equal parts beautiful and trippy.  Then the ride brings us ashore, into a dirty fever dream of life in Brooklyn, as presented by the magnificent Chloe Caldwell in “That Was Called Love.”

There’s truth and heartbreak in these tales, as well as Chicken McNuggets and ninjas.  If that’s not love, then I don’t know what is.

The issue is available for reading online here and downloading as a .pdf here. Remember to comment the crap out of the stories you like; it makes the writers feel special.